GUNFIRE IN GORST: Details emerge; questions remain

* Coroner says Port Angeles woman was shot twice, once in the chest and once in the abdomen.

A 27-year-old Port Angeles woman died from two gunshot wounds fired by a Washington State Patrol trooper Thursday following a traffic stop in Gorst, an autopsy conducted Friday showed.

Rosa Hammer was shot once in the chest and once in the abdomen in the 6:30 p.m. altercation, Kitsap County Deputy Coroner Tamara Lawson said.

The shooting occurred after Hammer became embroiled in a confrontation with a nine-year veteran of WSP, Trooper Ron Kessler, 32, who was shot once in his right hand and also bitten by Hammer.

The victim's father, Edward Hammer, said he was told that the trooper asked his daughter about the contents of a backpack she was carrying.

She refused to let him look in the pack and the two struggled, her father said.

The gun, a .38-caliber handgun, fell from the backpack and the two scuffled for the handgun, Edward Hammer said.

The gun discharged.

"He (Kessler)had a hold of the barrel of the gun, it went off and shot him in the hand," Hammer said.

Kessler returned fire, discharging his weapon an undisclosed number of times.

A doctor said the shot that wounded Kessler grazed his palm and struck him in the little finger. He was airlifted Thursday to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and was released Friday.

A large comet-shaped bloodstain Friday was the only indication Hammer was in front of the old Fred Hills Materials plant on Highway 16 in Gorst.

Hammer and her 5-year-old daughter were passengers in the white pickup with an extended cab driven by a friend of Hammer's believed to be from Port Orchard when Kessler stopped the truck believing the driver was under the influence, patrol spokesman Glen Tyrrell said.

Kessler arrested the driver, who was not identified, and placed her in the patrol car.

Shortly after, Hammer left the truck, her daughter still in the cab, and got in a scuffle with Tyrrell.

Hammer's father elaborated on the confrontation based on information he said he received from Kitsap County Sheriff's Office representatives.

"There were two conflicting stories," Edward Hammer of Port Angeles said with long pauses while holding back tears. "One in which they were driving erratically and stopped for drunken driving, but another sheriff said they were stopped for speeding."

Few people reported seeing the shootout, although one employee of Northwest Cascade/HoneyBucket may have witnessed the entire altercation.

Three abandoned houses and two businesses face the small parking area where Hammer was shot.

None of the employees from the business across the highway nor residents of a home next to the scene saw the confrontation.

Traffic was not heavy, just a few cars, said a motorist who passed the scene twice almost immediately after the shooting.

Greg Shelton said he was driving to check on his mother-in-law after hearing about a brush fire on Highway 16.

"The lady (Rosa Hammer)was sitting outside the truck,"Shelton said. "The police officer had his gun covering her about 10 feet from the truck."

The truck was parked between Kessler and traffic.

The woman's legs were splayed straight in front of her, Shelton said, but when they passed by again after turning around several minutes later, she was entirely on the ground.

Several other passersby didn't seem to notice, Shelton said.

"At that time, it looked like a regular traffic stop," Shelton said, except that Kessler seemed to be holding the gun in a "weird" way.

Tyrrell said only one motorist called WSP to report information.

"Potentially, the public was at danger," Tyrrell said. "We're very fortunate that there were no other incidents."

Kessler has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure during an investigation, Tyrrell said.

Kessler is the only law enforcement officer shot in Kitsap County in the past decade, although 21 others have been shot or had a gun pulled on them, according to the Washington Association of Sheriff's and Police Chiefs.

The driver of the truck has not been charged with any crime, Tyrrell said.

Neither the coroner nor Tyrrell would confirm if drugs or alcohol were involved in the shooting.

Edward Hammer said when he asked a Sheriff's Officerepresentative if drugs were involved, he was told they were not.

There is no record of Rosa Hammer being convicted of any crimes in Clallam, Jefferson or Kitsap counties, according to court records.

Ed Hammer was given custody of the 5-year-old girl after Child Protective Services workers took her from the scene of her mother's death.

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* Investigators are still waiting for results of toxicology tests. An investigation of the Aug. 9 police shooting in Gorst that left a Port Angeles woman dead still is a week or more from completion, a State Patrol spokesman said Monday. Capt. Eric Robertson in ... [Read More...]

It was two months ago tonight that a traffic stop in Gorst turned deadly, and left a 27-year-old Port Angeles woman dead on the roadside. And, still, the official county-state investigation of the shooting of Rosa Hammer by state Trooper Ron Kessler remains ... [Read More...]

Woman shot to death during Gorst arrest A traffic stop in the community of Gorst on Aug. 9 turned into a marijuana arrest and then a life-and-death struggle for a gun. When it was over, a 27-year-old Port Angeles woman, Rosa Hammer, lay dead ... [Read More...]